Thursday, 1 December 2011

designer charlotte swiden

Swedes are perhaps as well known for their love of colour, as well as their passion for white, white, white. And so it goes with the designs of Charlotte Swiden. While she was born and raised in Sweden, she moved to Melbourne in 2005. Initially Charlotte worked as a product and stationery designer for the Australian brand with a Swedish aesthetic kikki.K (read a Daily Imprint interview with its founder Kristina Karlsson here). But now she has ventured off to create her own brand with Swiden, celebrating colour - and white.

Which five words best describe you? Small, smiley, summery, Swedish, super colourful.How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? I started as an apprentice at a small design company back home in Sweden, studying graphic design after hours and freelancing on the side. Four years later I decided I wanted to live in Melbourne, Australia so I packed up my life and moved. I completed a bachelor degree in communication design and kept freelancing. After that I found my dream job at kikki.K as a product and stationery designer. It was hard work but so rewarding and I had almost total creative freedom. I stayed with kikki.K for three years and then decided to realise my dream to design and make my own products.What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? To trust my gut instincts. If it feels right - go for it.What’s your proudest career achievement? Probably my first sales and positive feedback, realising that people want and enjoy what I'm creating.What’s been your best decision? Moving to Melbourne and leaving my home in Sweden was life changing, but the best decision I ever made. My life wouldn't have been what it is now otherwise. I met my fiance here, I found my dream career, I love the city's lifestyle and I'm always close to nature.Who inspires you?Passionate people who are living their dreams.What are you passionate about? My man and my home, designing my own products, being in nature, the ocean, traveling, reading, good food.Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? I think I'd be too tongue-tied to meet some genius like Einstein or Dalai Llama. If I could beam myself to meet my family in Sweden a bit more often I'd be pretty happy.What dream do you still want to fulfil? So many things! To make a living from making my products. To be a good mum. To make my own porcelain products, design a kids collection and to own a beach house...What are you reading? Just about to start reading Norwegian Wood by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

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Since launching in 2007 Daily Imprint has featured the stories behind some of the world's leading creatives in the visual arts - from artists to photographers and designers to stylists. It became the daily ritual of magazine editors, industry leaders and decision-makers as well as purveyors of good taste. It is also a valued resource for up-and-coming creatives. The site has a strong Australian influence as many of those featured are people who the author Natalie Walton meets during the course of her work as a writer and stylist based in Sydney. For updates and extras follow Daily Imprint on Instagram @dailyimprint - click on the image for a new kind of creative journey.

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Natalie Walton writes and styles for Australian interior and lifestyle magazines. Her work has been featured in Country Style, Frankie, Harper's Bazaar, House & Garden, Inside Out, Marie Claire and Real Living, among others. In the UK, she has been published in Elle Decoration, Grazia and Living Etc. Advertising clients include Freedom, Harvey Norman, GJ Gardner and Optus. Natalie has also hosted workshops at the Apple store in Bondi and been a speaker at Studio B in the USA. Previously she was deputy editor at Real Living magazine and worked as a news journalist. During this time Natalie produced and presented daily video reports and was a regular speaker on ABC Local Radio.

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